Giants’ John Mara Called Saquon Barkley and Joked About Being 'Very Upset' With Him

Kristen Wong | Jan 6, 2025

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Fans of long-suffering franchises like the New York Giants know that sometimes, the only cure to NFL seasonal depression is being able to make fun of yourself and not take things too seriously.

Giants owner John Mara took a page from his fanbase’s therapy lessons on Monday when discussing ex-Giants running back Saquon Barkley’s viral commercial that seemed to troll his former team.

The Philadelphia Eagles star was featured in a hilarious ad in which he sang a lullaby to those who had trouble sleeping over football, a sassy play off of a quote Mara said about Barkley in last offseason’s Hard Knocks episode. 

“I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes to Philadelphia,” Mara told GM Joe Schoen.

Well, Mara apparently caught wind of the commercial and revealed that he called Barkley about it.

“I called him before the game and told him I was very upset with him based on our relationship of so many years,” Mara said. “And he said, ‘What do you mean?’ I said, ‘The least you could have done is ask me to be in the commercial with you.’

“I said, ‘I could have been tossing and turning and it would have been a great (thing).’ I said, ‘There is an acting gene in our family. It’s not just my nieces.’”

John Mara called Saquon Barkley and jokingly said he was "very upset" with the commercial that Barkley did, as he wanted to be featured:

"There is an acting gene in our family, it's not just my nieces" pic.twitter.com/6V9JgmSjkh

— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) January 6, 2025

Cue the pained laughter. 

For a perhaps little-known fact, Mara is the uncle of famous actresses Kate Mara and Rooney Mara. Following his dubious handling of the Barkley and Daniel Jones situations, the Giants' owner just made the pivotal decision to retain Brian Daboll and Schoen after a 3-14 season—we’ll see if he ends up regretting that one, too.

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